Sunday, February 17, 2019

The season of hearts is upon us! And the Diva challenged us this week to get inspired by any and everything "Valentine-y". While I'm not particularly fond of hearts, I did come up with a heart string that I liked. I filled it in with lines, some of which are inspired by Eni Oken's book on Echo Lines. I also reviewed Simone Bischoff's amazing tutorials on linework which I highly recommend. This technique of filling in space with lines is so relaxing for me. I enjoyed making these two tiles.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Anthem scored points with me as soon as I saw it on the Mosaic app recently. It just looks different to me from most tangles. I don't know of anything quite like it, with its crystalline structure. Thank you, Laura, for choosing it for this week's challenge. I chose to draw it on a black 3Z tile, which I thought would go well with the angular pattern. I used an "oldie, but goodie" technique: Zenstone shavings are rubbed into the paper and feathered out to create the glow. Then I drew the tangle with a Graphic 1 pen. (Don't try it with a Micron or Gelly Roll, which will get clogged with the soapstone particles.)

I've been trying to use this tangle with the "tranzending technique". Not quite there, yet, but I hope to have something to share next week.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Our wonderful Diva CZT challenged us to a striped tile this week. I believe that when we use stripes for our string, we can call it "stacking". This technique is always relaxing, since there's not a lot to figure out. We just layer tangles, one on top of the other, like a luscious cake! My stripes were more like ribbons, but I'm happy with the results!

Thanks for looking in on me! Have a lovely week! (I'm headed back to a long-term substitute teaching position this week, but hope to find time to meet you here again next Sunday!)

Sunday, January 20, 2019

This week's challenge to use a new, or rarely used, medium came the day after I thought it would be fun to use some gesso. I was missing the experimentation that I enjoyed in my art journal last year, and needed some "standing up" art that would keep me moving on my feet a little bit, sort of like cooking does! (You may wonder how gesso does this. In my house, I use wet media in the kitchen and bathroom, but draw in my office/studio space. Unconventional, but it works for me and keeps the paint and gesso away from the carpet!!)
I started with some recycled cracker boxes, just playing withe the gesso and some blue acrylic paint.
That was Monday morning. As the week progressed, I was getting more and more frustrated and uncertain about where this was going! Lots of "Maybe if I just add (color/pen/graphite/more gesso/etc.)" Perhaps you've been there. Then the thoughts of "I just won't post this week". By last night, I had a half-decent bookmark to show for the process.
This morning, I finished my bookmark. (It's the one on top.) I looked at the larger piece and decided, "Bookmarks for everyone!!"

Let me know if you want a bookmark by January 27. I'll happily send you one! (If there are no takers, these guys will go to the library where we have Zentangle classes.)

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Congratulations to the Diva for eight years of faithfully posting wonderful challenges for our community! This week's challenge: use a circle for your string, be it a "spundala", a "Zendala" a "Zenbutton" or maybe 2 Christmas balls?

This template came from a madebyjoey challenge from January 2016

Before the holidays, I had lunch with some of my fabulous students. We were lamenting the fact that it was almost Christmas and there was no time left for tangling holiday cards. Jokingly, we said we should start our January classes at the library with greeting cards, and then we would be ready for Christmas 2019. When I saw this week's Diva challenge, and remembered that beautiful string that Joey had given us a few years ago, I thought, "Why not?" So today, I'm doing a class about negative space in which we'll create greeting cards. Here's the other demo for the second card:

Sunday, January 6, 2019

Happy New Year! I wish you all health, peace and growth in the new year.
It's been almost 2 months since my last post. I'm slowly recovering from back, hip and shoulder issues. The computer remains a no-no, but I wanted to wish you a happy new year before 2019 is over! (They do go by fast, don't they?). And share my holiday tangles for challenge #379! Some of these were gifts, some were related to the new year. I hope you find something to put a smile on your face!
Here are a few things that I've done since November 11.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

It's good to be here.
I briefly considered skipping this week, which found me very un-Zen. My friend Ali sometimes says she has the attention span of a wet fart on a hot skillet. That was me this week. Until I made myself pick up my last Renaissance Zendala, a brown Micron 01 and start drawing. (I didn't say "sit down". That was part of my problem this week, with my achy-breaky hips. I've adjusted my drawing table so that I can stand and draw. I still have to sit to work on the computer, so I'd better move on before the hips have their way with me!!!)

This tile is destined for my favorite pen shop: Crazy Alan's Emporium, here in Chapel Hill. I am so grateful for Alan's hard work and dedication, his sense of humor and friendly attitude!

Sunday, November 4, 2018

I enjoyed the daily challenge, trying out new-to-me tangles and learning how to unclog a Micron pen!

The background is gouache, which is a bit grainy and likely to clog up your Micron 01. I was using 4 different purple Micron 01 pens, which kept skipping and clogging. Finally, I took a cup of water and swished them around a bit, then drew around on my scrap paper. (If that didn't work, I wet them again and placed the tip on a Kleenex.) Voilà! The ink began to flow.

I wish I had remembered to take the "before shading" picture to show what a difference the Prismacolors and graphite make. Shading is always my favorite part of tangling. This took a couple of days, but was well worth the time.

On to the Diva's challenge to incorporate a "splotch" of something. I grabbed my unopened black gesso and splotched a couple of scrap tiles. I was a little surprised at how much tooth the gesso had.

Normally, I like to use the Signo Uno for white, and did so in the first tile. I think the ink is a little thick and not as bright as when I bought it.

For the second tile, I did a "dingsplatz" with Moonlight Gelly Rolls and a white Gelly Roll.

This week, I was grateful for several walks in the forest, Monarch butterflies in the garden, fall colors and a relaxing anniversary with Lar. From my gratitude journal:

I hope that you're enjoying the "softer" seasons of fall and spring in your hemispheres.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

When the Diva announced this week's challenge, she acknowledged that there would be no middle ground in our reactions. It was groan or grin at the idea of drawing with our non-dominant hand. Personally, I grinned :) Because Zentangle is all about the process, not the product, we focus on our mindfulness during our practice. Drawing with my non-dominant hand forces me to do this, and to s l o w d o w n.
I sat down for the challenge on Wednesday, which happened to be the day when "Patience" was the Inktober prompt. I had done my Inktober drawing that morning. However, when I came back to it that evening, I realized I had goofed in the last two steps. (That's why it just looked like N'Zeppl!) It took me a while to find a way to re-program my hand and pen, and once I found it, I didn't want to stop! I decided to continue with the Diva challenge, and draw Patience with my non-dominant hand. At first the squiggly lines were annoying, but I focused on the sequence of steps I had personalized. After over an hour, I liked the look, so I started inking in the areas between the "blooms". I did a few, and decided that I like the open look best. It reminded me of delicately tatted snowflakes my aunt Kathleen used to make.
Only later did I see the connection: non-dominant hand drawing takes a lot of patience.

I found much to be grateful for this week: the fall weather, time to work in the garden, my enormous clouds of Sheffield mums that are feeding pollinators and appreciating shinrin-yoku, or "forest bathing". I also took some time to play with "dingsplatz", the latest Kitchen Table Tangle.

Sunday, October 21, 2018

My DC#371 tile came into existence in my gratitude journal this week, after the worst of Hurricane Michael hit Chapel Hill. I was grateful for a safe, dry place to seek shelter from the 60 mph (90 kh) winds which were downing trees all around me and knocking out power lines.

Lar and I were happy to get out of town after the storm, to visit my daughter and her husband. We had a relaxing Sunday together making Halloween decorations for the front stoop.

I left the sharp instruments to them and tangled three small "zebra" pumpkins.

Inktober certainly keeps me tangled up! Between Inktober, substitute teaching, hurricane cleanup and medical stuff, my Dewd came to life only this morning. This was my first go at the wonderful Jody Genovese's WigWag. I definitely need to practice it.

Thursday I enjoyed teaching another "lunch and learn" class in a local company. Here are some of the Halloween-themed tiles:

Sunday, October 7, 2018

When I saw the Diva's challenge tile this week with Heidi Sue's Mezzanine tangle, I thought about henna designs and India. I used Mezzanine three times in my gratitude journal, and each one was totally different. (Apologies for the blurry scans.)

Mezzanine for the string (my favorite)

For Inktober, I decided to do one large piece with all the tangles rather than 1 small piece for each day. I also thought it would be fun to introduce Inktober to my class today with a 5.5 x 8.5 piece using this week's 7 tangles and a string with the number 10. Here's my demo:

How's your Inktober coming along?

Thanks for your time. Now that I've figured out that I can't post comments using Safari, I look forward to seeing your blogs and expressing my gratitude for your ever-present inspiration! Have an inspiring week!

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Thankful, so thankful, for the Diva's challenge this week to use orbs. This one gave me some peace and perspective in an incredibly wrenching week for our country, when women seemed to be eternally doomed to second-class citizenship. 'Nuf said. Here's my journal.

Yesterday was a very peaceful day. (No news!) The autumn seems to want to settle in, so temperatures are a little cooler and the air is a bit dryer. For the first time in weeks, I could leave windows open and enjoy the fresh air. (If you've ever had a hurricane come your way, you know what I mean. The humidity is stifling.) Pete had his first sniff of the (local) great outdoors, albeit from his perch near the window sill in a sunny spot!

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Certified Zentangle Teacher

About Me

Recently retired from 35 years of teaching languages, I have gayly embarked upon a path of exploration, creativity and discovery. Learning is my passion, along with trying to make the world a little bit better than I found it.